The third in a series of beers made for the Mi-Orge Mi-Houlbon beer store in Belgium and Jean Le Chocolatier chocolate shop. A blend of 1, 2 and 3 year old Cantillon lambic from Red Bordeaux, White Bordeaux and Cotes de Rhone barrels.

Got this one many moons ago from Jean le Chocolatier. Big thanks to digita for helping make it happen.

From a 750 into a tasting glass.

APPEARANCE: Pours a smaller, medium looking white head with good retention. Clear gamboge orange in color with medium levels of carbonation for the style. Head slowly fades to a thin film and ring.

SMELL: Very smooth with citrus aromas, some acidic lemon, white grapes and white wine, wood and some hay and barn notes. Lovely wine-like and citrus aromas work nicely with the funky notes from the gueuze.

TASTE: White wine, grapes, citrus lemon and some acidity up front. Flavorful and interesting. Finishes with plenty of sour lemon, citrus fruits, white wine, grapes and wood notes lingering on the palate, as well as some funk and mustiness underneath. Very nice and well balanced, and considerably different than the LP gueuze we drank ahead of it.

PALATE: Medium body and medium levels of carbonation. Semi-creamy on the palate, goes down fine and finishes very puckering. Very dry finish on this one.

OVERALL: Really loved this one. Much more citrus, lemon and less musty than the regular gueuze, and the wood, wine and grape character sets it apart from the Lou Pepe. Not sure how people are saying these brews are all comparable to each other. In any case, this was well worth the wait and thanks again to digita for helping with the haul here.

75 cl. bottle – had to try a couple of bars before I got this one – glad to have tried it, although I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t get it as a take away because I wanted to enjoy this leisurely at home – they kept saying that they had to open it there and I had to drink it on the premises because they didn’t want to see this wind up on ebay – told them that I respect Cantillon just a bit too much in order to do that but it is not like there is any way to check my claim – label looks kind of on the cheaper side of thing as some slightly rarer Cantillon tends to be, red Jean Cris label upfront & on the back some explanation, only in French – the explanation basically describes what the Jean Cris series is all about, although I am willing to bet that most people who have tried it did some more for the Cantillon than the Jean Cris name, no disrespect to the guys – it clearly states that this is an all new beer consisting of a blend of lambic of 3 different years aged on Red Bordeaux, White Bordeaux & Côtes du Rhône barrels – good until 2030 (I believe them but I don’t think that I will ever get the chance to verify this statement) – bottled on 07/01/2011 making this close to 10 months old when consumed – slightly hazy golden with almost no head, whatever there is, is very lambic-like \ smell is pretty typical Cantillon, I would say that this would somewhat reminiscent of a 1 yr old Cantillon lambic, very musty, lots of horseblanket, tart, sour lemon, decay, web-covered ancient cellars of ruins but still rather restrained \ Taste is very tart, musty, rotting & decaying with musty lemons, vinegar, lots horseblanket, even more sour & tart white grapeskins, really lots of them, sour, ancient, lots of half rotting old musty wine barrels, like someone forgot them for a century in a cellar & you are kind of licking the inside of them, hint of the gueze bitterness you usual get at the very end f the finish – definitely not an over the edge sour \ typical body \ am I insane or am I the only who isn’t getting any real wine in here which was sort of what I was expecting for? I am getting musty, sour grape skins but no more than you would regularly get from Cantillon, I am getting a lot rotting old wine barrel wood but no real wine in here, maybe I don’t know enough of wine or perhaps even geueze for that matter & I came in with the wrong expectations \ Overall great as is everything in which Jean is even remotely involved in but I don’t think that this ranks amongst the best of Cantillon, whatever interest little or big exists for this beer is not because it is the best Cantillon ever, although it is certainly an enjoyable one.

A: Hazy light gold color with a big white head. S: Smells strongly of lemon. Citrus, wheat, grass. Light wood and must. Nice and earthy with lots of funk. Can't detect any wine. T: Strong sourness. Not like the Classic Gueuze, this one has a bit of a floral and grassy characteristic. Tastes a bit fruity, like apples. Strong lemon acidity, oak and a bit of cheese. A touch of vinous characteristics at the end. M: Light bodied with medium carbonation. Spritzy and dry finish. Slightly vinous dry mouthfeel. Pretty acidic. O: Excellent gueuze, as usual from Cantillon. Would love to have another bottle of this one to age.

taste- Citrus-- lemons, grapefruit, with a clean fruit finish. As it came to room temperature i could really grasp the blend of wine characteristics and notes of oak barrels. very light funky cheese came across my palate but was an undertone to citrus. moderate to light carbonation offering up a very smooth finish.